No More Nightmares
by ani05tersrVIP
Summary: She's not hurt. She's not happy to see him, but she's not hurt.
1. Chapter 1

"You're stalking me."

"Not at all." Chandra raised both eyebrows, jutting her head forward in disbelief.

"You're following me around the Mulitverse, which, I think, constitutes stalking."

"I'm not stalking you; you've nothing to worry about."

"Really?"

Gideon milled about his head, looking for a way to differentiate between what he had done and that which he was being accused of. He couldn't identify the difference. That seemed somewhat worthy of concern. Ah, concern – there it was.

"I apologise if my concern made you nervous." It was clearly the wrong thing to say as Chandra's eyes bugged and her hair started crackling.

"I'm not a child and I'm no damsel in distress! I don't need to be protected by anyone but myself and if you don't get that you'll shortly find yourself in need of protection from me!" If it were another person Gideon might have expected them to storm away but this was Chandra. The famously short fuse was alight and he suspected violence was no empty threat. She was in no way put off by confrontation.

"I'm sorry." He spoke calmly as always. Chandra grumbled.

"Why are you here?"

"I thought you established that already."

"No I mean, why are you following me?" He elected not to answer the question yet again, instead pausing and looking out over the plateau's edge, past the steep shrub covered descent, to the ocean. No ports as far as the eye could see which being a long way likely meant no mind mages or artificers nearby. That was probably why she was here he decided.

Gideon didn't know this plane, he'd been pointed here by some assistance from the Infinite Consortium and when he'd asked what to expect Jace had simply said "It's really, really tall."

He was right. They stood on the rocky edge of a meadow atop an enormous plateau. So far as Gideon could tell this plane was made mostly of large flat-topped mountains, upon which were found fields, lakes and other mountains. The trees were short and there was a small city skirting around the foot of a mountain nearby. The mountain from which they'd come was a short distance the other way, they'd left to avoid accidentally tipping off the locals to the extremity of their foreign origin.

He looked back at a slightly annoyed Chandra and mused that her temper had improved a fraction or two. She wouldn't have simply given up without an answer when last he saw her. Without realising, he was giving her a small smile that seemed to ease the remnants or her irritation. He was glad to see her, and seemingly unscathed. Remarkable when he considered what happened on Zendikar.

She muttered something about having to get back to the settlement and he nodded, the two of them setting off towards the mountain again. As they walked her hair swished back and forth with each step, flashing in the sun. She looked quite healthy, at least as well as in Regatha, perhaps more so. He'd forgotten how bright her hair was, not so much ginger as it was orange. He'd forgotten a lot of how she looked; it had been almost four years. How old was she now, in her mid-twenties? He hadn't known her age even then, just that she was clearly some years younger than him.

His eyes flicked up to the settlement atop the diminutive mountain they were climbing. What was she doing there?

"Where are you staying?" She looked back at him.

"I'm staying in a mountain hollow near the school." She paused before continuing. "I'm teaching the little ones pyromancy, or at least I'm trying to." He reeled. Chandra teaching did not sound like a wise choice but he bit his tongue.

"I don't suppose that anyone could use my skills?" She looked back at him, confused.

"Why?"

"Because, I have no other commitments and I'm going to need to work for food and shelter until I determine where I'm going." She was staring at him suspiciously.

"You don't have anywhere to be for your Order?" He looked away so he wouldn't be tempted to analyse her reaction.

"I left," They kept ascending the walkway until they passed through an opening in the rail surrounding the lower level of the town and he turned to look her in the eye. "And I'm not going back."


	2. Chapter 2

Gideon was only a little bothered to find himself sharing a room with an infirm child, unable to heal even the meekest of his burns. The nurse was explaining that clearly pyromancy was not for him, much less the children Chandra had been teaching. When he came to seek said mage out at the school he was accosted by a rather rambunctious rabble of young teenagers.

Any distance between him and the town's inhabitants and he would've healed himself, unfortunately he was far too polite to offend the healer attending to his wounds. He was likewise, far too polite to do anything more than moderate damage to the youths. Two sat to his right, as far from Gideon as they could get within the cottage.

Chandra hadn't stuck around to see what happened to him, upon sighting the burnt Gideon holding the boys up by an ankle each she'd called the school nurse and abandoned her three 'charges'.

He would have to apologise for embarrassing her. Had he not spoken to her then none of her students would have known there was a man staying with their teacher, and the two next to him would not be mumbling about their 'spinster' teacher's lewd affair.

Surely she wasn't old enough to be a spinster?

He really needed to find work. Never had he been so lacking in anything to do that he had sat and contemplated a woman's age before. It was particularly bothersome as he simply did not care. Chandra could be a decrepit widow as it was no business of his.

Twenty… three?

Much younger than him if that were the case. He remembered Jace's expression upon the request for assistance with a cringe. He thanked the heavens above that the young man (Now Jace must've been at least twenty five, right?) had the decency to stay out of his mind. That hadn't stopped him from asking aloud what concern it was of his where Chandra Nalaar was. Gideon had responded with his usual approach to unwanted questions, he'd changed the subject. When that didn't work he'd downright ignored Beleren.

It wasn't reassuring to note that Jace seemed convinced he had his answer. Gideon was too private to tell him that he wanted to help Chandra, so instead Beleren was now convinced he was pursuing an old lover.

It seemed most of the people he met these days thought he was once Chandra's lover. It seemed daft, he doubted Chandra had ever been anyone's lover.

Another unwelcome thought. Chandra was a fellow planeswalker, no man's lover. Right?

He doubted she had the patience to tolerate anyone long enough to become a lover.

"If you trek to Harbingan tonight then you may be able to catch a mage more experienced in the healing arts, than myself." Gideon snapped out of his reverie, politely as always.

"Pardon?"

"Harbingan is at the foot of Klarret Peak, a few ridges over. There are many mages there, thanks to the hot springs. Folk come from all over the plateau to be healed."

Gideon thought about this for a time. As he trod the path back to Chandra's residence he wondered if a short trip wasn't in order. He'd been here just one day and already she seemed sick of him.

But then again, perhaps that was just her inability to tolerate anyone in her space.

Perhaps Harbingan was a better environment for him to make himself useful.


End file.
